Tuesday, July 26, 2005

The Dumb Leadership Council Eats its Own

If you wonder why the Democratic Party has been so unsuccessful in politics lately, here is a good example of one major reason. The Democratic Leadership Council, run by Clintonites, including 2008 Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, has obvious disdain for anything liberal, which sounds exactly like the rantings of the Republican Party.

Peter Ross Range, writing for the DLC's Blueprint magazine, basically parrots Dubya's explanation of the US and British terror attacks by calling it "a calculated attack on all that liberals hold dear: tolerance, diversity, women's rights, the fundamental freedoms and protections of democracy, even trade unionism. In short, liberal values. That's why the liberal left makes a profound mistake if it concedes this war to George W. Bush and the right."

Range added that the attacks in New York were because it is "one of the most liberal-minded cities in the world."

Did this guy use Pat Robertson as a ghost writer? From OBL's own words, the attacks against the US have to do with our foreign policies, both political and economic. The World Trade Center towers, the Pentagon and the White House (which was targeted but not hit) were attacked because of their symbolism of those policies.

Yes, the London bombings were aimed at locals and not the seats of power, but I could hazard to guess that mass transit is an easier target, considering the security measures taken to protect government buildings and other major institutions of power.

Range ends his rant by saying that the violence in Iraq is aimed at Iraqis, mostly, and not American soldiers, which is proof that the insurgency is not about Iraqis wanting the US to withdraw. It is because they hate democracy, he says.

In a way, Range is right. But it is not the concept of democracy, but rather the US-imposed version that includes American companies controlling Iraq's economy, stealing the profits from its resources, and planting a dozen military bases throughout the country. And of course every single poll of Iraqis shows a massive opposition to our continued involvement in Iraq post-Saddam, even among Iraqis who want the bombings to stop.

Americans need to understand that the terror attacks against the US were not, in OBL's mind, the first shot in this war. His complaint, from what he has said is against US involvement, overtly and covertly, in the governments of Muslim nations, which he believes should be run by Muslims. OBL opposes our decision to dominate the region because of its oil supply, which is an official part of our national security plan, added by President Carter. OBL opposes authoritarian governments like Saudi Arabia that oppress its people. OBL opposes the way the US backs Israel while it commits vicious acts of terror against Palestinians.

To say that the attacks against the US happened because we have trade unions and women's rights is, at best, a giant load of horseshit.

Worse, to attack the liberal wing of your party so viciously and in error can only serve one purpose – to drive people away from the party.

I do not condone OBL's attacks and have said from day one that if the nations of the world, under the auspices of the UN, should have gone after OBL immediately. He should be tried, convicted and punished.

Instead, Dubya half-heartedly went after OBL, who escaped, and then decided to invade Iraq, which had nothing to do with the terror attacks. The gruesome effects of that war and our inability to provide security, food, medicine, housing, water or electricity turned the liberated Iraqis against us. As they began rebelling, we responded with massive might, destroying towns and killings thousands of civilians, leaving many more homeless and penniless. Now Muslims from across the region are streaming in to Iraq to fight us, to get us out, and two recent studies of such fighters show that they were not anti-US before the war and became radicalized by our actions in Iraq.

In essence, many Muslims feel that the US response to 9-11 proved OBL was right about us.

As I have always said, the easiest way to end terror attacks against our nation is to stop sponsoring or committing acts of terror against other nations, and to use our economic and military might to make the world a better place for the people of the planet and not for the corporate interests that are driving our foreign policies.

It is obvious that the DLC, which does not control the Democratic Party but certainly has a weighty influence, is not interested in changing those policies. If successful in getting Hillary the Democratic presidential nomination, I will not be supporting her.